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Spiritual Gifts, Volume 3
and they were fully informed in regard to the fall of Satan, and the
danger of listening to his suggestions. God did not deprive them of the
power of eating the forbidden fruit. He left them as free moral agents
to believe his word, obey his commandments and live; or believe the
tempter, disobey and perish. They both ate, and the great wisdom they
obtained was the knowledge of sin, and a sense of guilt. Immediately
the covering of light about them disappeared, and under a sense of
their guilt, and loss of their divine covering, a shivering seized them,
and they tried to cover their exposed forms. The Lord would not have
them investigate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, for then they would
be exposed to Satan masked. He knew that they would be perfectly
safe if they touched not the fruit.
Our first parents chose to believe the words, as they thought, of
a serpent, yet he had given them no tokens of his love. He had done
nothing for their happiness and benefit; while God had given them ev-
ery thing that was good for food, and pleasant to the sight. Everywhere
the eye might rest was abundance and beauty; yet Eve was deceived
by the serpent to think that there was something withheld which would
make them wise, even as God. Instead of believing and confiding in
God, she basely mistrusted his goodness and cherished the words of
Satan.
Their crime is now before them in its true and awful character.
[44]
Adam censured Eve’s folly in leaving his side, and being deceived by
the serpent. They both flattered themselves that God, who had given
them everything to make them happy, might yet excuse their disobe-
dience, because of his great love to them, and that their punishment
would not be so dreadful after all.
Satan exulted in his success. He had now tempted the woman
to distrust God, to question his wisdom, and to seek to penetrate his
all-wise plans. And through her he had also caused the overthrow of
Adam, who through his love for Eve, disobeyed the command of God
and fell with her.
The news of man’s fall spread through Heaven—every harp was
hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow.
All Heaven was in agitation. The angels were grieved at the base
ingratitude of man, in return for the rich bounties God had provided.
A council was held to decide what must be done with the guilty pair.